Never Too Late
by Darth Kieduss the Wise
Summary: Five months after being murdered, Kate wakes up in her coffin alive. She needs answers and seeks out one person she knows she can trust.
1. Lazarus Rising

**FLASH: Kate confused.**

OCTOBER 5, 2005  
INDIANA, USA

Her eyes shot open, red and sore.

When she woke up, it was dark. She felt around trying to see where she was, if this was another cruel trick. The last thing she remembered was her laughing at Tony being right. Then the kinetic impact into her forehead-. Then nothing.

"Help!" she tried to scream into the darkness. Her voice was hoarse and breathless. "Help! HELP!"

She moved her hands around and discovered she was in a pine box. She was in a coffin. That's what the kinetic impact was. A bullet. Ari. Ari Haswari had killed her. Or did he?

Instead of laying there and pondering why she was, in fact, in a coffin, she prepared to herself to get out of there. Having watched _Kill Bill_ while in law school, she flattened her hand and touched the coffin with the end of her bird finger. Taking three slow, deep breaths, Kate calmed herself. Then she wrapped her fingers into a fist and punched the top of the coffin. Of course, it didn't give way on the first punch. She readied her hand again. Punch. Again. Again. Again. And fucking again.

Kate pounded on the top until the wood finally gave way. She took a deep breath as all the dirt on top came through. Summoning all her strength, what was left of it, and possibly the will of God, she pushed and pushed throughout the darkness, determined to get to the light.

She finally got to the top, hers hand sticking out feeling nothing but air and the dirt that clung to her fingernails. A few seconds later her head popped out. She took a big gasp of air, and started crawling out. Her right hand clawed into the ground as her left pushed against the edge of the hole.

She got up and looked around the box. She stood in a cemetery underneath a beautiful huge tree. The tombstone at her grave was beautifully carved.

CAITLIN TODD

DAUGHTER, FRIEND, SPECIAL AGENT

FOREVER LOVED, FOREVER MISSED

1973 - 2005

Under it was beautiful bouquet of flowers and roses. She noticed they came from Martha's Garden, her favorite flower shop. The weather was perfect. The wind flowed through her dirt-covered hair. The breeze felt good on her. Kate looked at herself, noticing she was wearing a sleeveless blue dress and Presidential Medal of Freedom around her neck. She was barefoot and totally alone.

 _Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore,_ Kate thought to herself. Oh God, she was talking like Tony would. She gasped.

"Tony..." her parched throat managed to croak.

 **FLASH**

 **Review. Maybe I'll continue. IDK. This is set after "Mind Games", before Ziva joins the team.**


	2. Listen To Me

**FLASH: Tony and Kate staring at each other.**

Kate gathered herself as she made her way out of the cemetery. She was alive. That was certain. But how, she did not know. But she would find out. She would get the answers she sought.

Kate put a hand to the back of her head. Last she remembered, there was a hole the size of a grapefruit, a millisecond before everything went dark. But there was nothing but her long, brown hair. No blood, no hole. Nothing.

"What the..." Kate tried to say. Her throat was parched. She needed water badly. Surprisingly, nearby was an abandoned gas station. Kate made her way in, not caring that there was a closed sign. She made her way into the restroom. Not checking for anybody, she immediately turned on the faucet. Cupping her hands, she gathered as much water. The liquid soothed her parched dry throat. It wasn't spring water but it tasted like spring water for her situation. She used the sink as a miniature shower and washed the dirt from her hair. Wiping her face, Kate looked at herself in the mirror. She was completely shaking. She parted her hair to expose her forehead. It was flawless and sublime. No scars, no bullet holes, no wound. Nothing.

This was some bad mojo. Her Catholicism was telling her something bad had happened. What, or who, had brought her back? How did they do? And, more importantly, why? That's what she had to find out. But she couldn't do it alone. If she was to get the answers she sought, she needed help.

Leaving the restroom, Kate went to the counter and discovered a phone. She crossed her fingers. She picked up the phone and held it to her ear. A sigh of relief slipped from her lips as she heard a dial tone. The phone was working. She dialed a number.

"Hello?" she called.

 _"Yeah?"_ a gruff voice asked. The man on the other end sounded...tipsy. And depressed. Had he been drinking?

"Tony?"

 _"Yeah?"_

"It's me."

 _"Who's 'me'?"_

Kate wanted to scoff at Tony not recognizing her voice. But then she remembered that probably as of yesterday, Tony thought she was dead. So she couldn't blame him.

"It's me, Caitlin Todd."

A dial tone sounded. This time, Kate scoffed, hanged up the receiver and dialed again.

 _"Who is this?"_ Tony demanded.

"Tony, listen to me..." Kate begged.

 _"This ain't funny. I'm a federal agent. Call again, I'll find you and arrest you for harassment."_

Kate scoffed again. "Guess I'm gonna have to beat some sense into ya in person, Tony."

* * *

Kate managed to catch a bus. She got off near where Tony lived and walked for fifteen minutes to his apartment.

She asked the front desk for the apartment of Anthony DiNozzo. The woman didn't bother asking who she was or why. Kate thought the clerk was probably assuming she was one of Tony's numerous dates. Kate scoffed internally.

When she found the apartment, she hesitated to knock. How would he react? Would he faint? Would he instantly hug her? Or maybe even attack her, thinking she was a demon? She took a deep breath and with every ounce of courage, rapped her knuckles on the door. The sound of a bottle smashing into pieces indicated she must've woken him up and he'd been drinking as she had suspected.

"Son of a bitch..." Tony muttered inside the apartment. "Hold on, I'm coming."

Kate stepped back as she heard him working the door locks. The door opened. She expected Tony to be a mess, given how he was, but she was not prepared for what she saw.

Judging by the growth on Tony's chin, Kate guessed he'd been wholed up in his apartment for two days. There was a mustard stain on his shirt. He probably hadn't left the apartment for two days either, or even showered. But at least he was still wearing pants.

Kate saw the shock in Tony's eyes. Her heart soared. Tony recognized her. Maybe this would be better than she hoped. But that hope burned when his expression turned to confusion, then to anger.

"Lady, whoever you are, you have a lot of nerve impersonating a dead federal agent," Tony snarled. "And my friend. We buried her. And it's creepy that you made the effort to find me and come to my apartment. Go away before I arrest you for said impersonating."

Kate's hand caught the door Tony was trying to close. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Your name is Anthony DiNardo DiNozzo, Junior. Third generation Italian American. You're an agent of NCIS. Leroy Jethro Gibbs is our boss. You're almost like a brother to me."

"Anyone with a pair of binoculars or a laptop could figure that out. And my last name has a vowel in it, so naturally people would assume my white ass is Italian."

Kate cringed and closed her eyes at what she was about to do to prove herself. She turned to face her back to Tony. She revealed the tattoo on her ass. A Princess Leia in a slave girl bikini astride a 20-sided dice.

Tony's pupils shrank until they were mere dots. _My God..._ His doubts and defenses crumbled.

"Kate?"

"I was drunk, Tony," Kate said, swearing she'd never forgive herself for showing him her ass. But before she could explain further, she was wrapped in a bear hug tighter than Abby had ever squeezed her. Kate wrapped her arms around Tony as well.

Tony released Kate. "But...how?"

"I don't know, Tony."

"You wanna come in?" Tony asked.

"Sure," Kate nodded, walking in.

"Can I get you anything?" Tony asked.

"Just a water," Kate said as she headed for the couch.

"But this don't make any sense..." Tony said as he grabbed a couple of water bottles.

"Yeah, you're preaching to the choir..." Kate agreed, accepting a water. She chuckled. "Thanks. Actually, as a little girl, my mother forced me to be in the school choir. Gawd, I hated it."

"Kate, a bullet pierced your skull and destroyed your brain. We had to bury you. It's been five months."

"Yeah, I know," Kate agreed. "No one comes back alive like that without looking like Jodie from _The Amityville Horror._ "

"What do you remember?"

"Nothing much. I remember being target practice for a terrorist. Then light's out. Next thing I know, I'm coming to six feet under. That's it."

Tony sat down, rubbing his head in all the confusion. "So you don't remember Heaven?"

"Unfortunately, no," Kate sighed. "Is Gibbs okay?"

"Yeah, physically at least," Tony said.

"Good...Wait, 'physically at least'?"

"You're not gonna believe this, but after you...died...Gibbs started acting _nice_."

Kate took a second to register what he said, then she laughed. "Gibbs...Being nice?"

"Yup, even offered to get me coffee. Guess after losing you, he couldn't bring himself to be the ass he usually is."

"Yeah, I understand. Tony, I'm sorry that this is happening."

"Kate, it wasn't your fault," Tony said, coming over to sit next to her. "It was that bastard Ari's fault. He pulled the trigger."

"Do you know where he is?" Kate demanded. "I'm going to kill that bastard!"

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Yeah...about that..."

"Y'all already got him?" Kate asked.

"Yup. Gibbs popped him in his basement."

"In his basement? How did he get in Gibbs' basement?"

"Kate, he leaves his entire house unlocked."

"Oh, yeah."

"Plus, Haswari snuck into NCIS, a heavily guarded place, so I'm pretty sure he could get into Gibbs' house without trouble."

"Okay, Tony, I get the picture."

"Sorry," Tony said, taking a sip of water.

A silence occurred as the two sat on Tony's couch. They both looked at each, wondering who would speak first. To cheat death like this was a power only one human had achieved. Kate was not the Messiah, so she didn't know if God was responsible, but she never ruled out that possibly. She faith was now stronger than ever. She always knew there was a God. But whether He brought her back, she did not know.

"Tony, I need something from you."

"Sure. Anything."

"I need your help," she said, turning to fully face him.

"With what?" Tony asked, meeting her gaze.

"Something, or someone, brought me back," Kate explained. "I don't know what brought me back, but something did. And I won't be able to rest until I find out what the hell is going on."

"It's alright, Kate, I understand. Trust me, I'll be right behind you 100%."

"Thanks, Tony."

Tony flashed his smile at Kate, which only made her smile. This was going to be a hectic journey, but at least she knew she had his support.

 **FLASH**

 **Review.**


	3. Begin Again

**I don't always masturbate. But when I do...I beat that fucker like it owes me money...Stay horny, my friends.**

"Looks like we begin again."

"What?" Tony asked as he sipped his water.

"I accept that I..." Kate hesitated. "Died. I do. I get it. But now I'm back. I'm...To be honest, physically, I've never felt better."

"So...you feel no pain?" Tony inquired. He came to her and felt her forehead. "You're not feeling the urge to feed on my flesh?"

"I'm not a zombie, Tony," Kate scoffed, swatting his arm away. "But yes, I feel fine. I'm hungry but it's all good."

"Sorry..." Tony was hesitant to ask his next question. "Do you think..."

"Think what?"

"Did God bring you back?" Tony finally asked. "I prayed to God for days to tell me that I was just dreaming. I prayed that He'd wake me up from a horrendous, screwed-up nightmare and I'd go to work with you at your desk calling me a pig."

"Tony, you _are_ a pig."

"It's part of my charm," Tony said, flashing his trademark smile.

"That's true. You're like a puppy. You annoy us but we miss you when you were gone."

"You mean the plague?"

"Yeah," Kate said. Her thoughts went to that night. Tony's lips and skin turning blue, coughing up, on the brink of death. A cold shiver went up her spine at the thought of him dying. She would've died to protect Bush, despite her being a Democrat. She had protected Clinton even after the Lewinsky scandal. And she was willing to do anything to protect Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Abby or Ducky. But she felt that she would be shattered beyond repair.

"You know, I could've sworn I saw an Angel of Death or something. Maybe Azrael."

"Azrael?"

"Azrael is the Angel of Death. I grew up in an Italian Catholic family, Kate," Tony explained. "My mother; obsessed with angels, she was. Knew every angel, archangel, seraphim. You name it."

"Maybe this Azrael brought me back," Kate guessed. "You think?"

"I don't know."

"Tony, no one has gotten shot in the forehead and lived," Kate ranted. "I _died_. I'd been buried for five months and-"

"Hey! Kate, I understand. You think I'm not freaked out? I saw your body in autopsy. I was one of your pallbearers. This is...this is all just a lot to take in... Look, do you want something to eat?"

"Thank God you asked, Tony. I'm starving. I literally haven't eaten in five months."

"Okay," Tony said as he grabbed his keys. "First, we're going to an Italian pizza joint I know. Then we're going to the library."


End file.
